Getting Started - Wink and Wink2 Robots

Follow the instructions in the video below to quickly set up your Wink or Wink2 robot.

Use the Ringo Software Libraries for Wink

To prepare your computer to write code for your Wink robots, you will need to perform the following steps.

Install the Arduino Development IDE (this is the program you'll use to write your code)

Install the USB Driver

Install the Ringo Library Files

Inside Arduino, select "Arduino Pro or Pro Mini" as the board, select "ATMega328, 8MHz" as the processor, and select the correct port in Tools>Port

This is a smooth process for most people, and once you have the drivers and software loaded up on your computer, it's easy sailing as you begin to play with your robots. If you do encounter any difficulty getting the programming process started, please have a look at this post on our forum, where we discuss some issues others have encountered along with solutions. You can also Contact Us for more assistance.

Wink Getting Started Video

Wink Getting Started Steps

These steps follow along with the video above. Note that the install process is nearly identical for Mac.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We are still in process of updating the written guides and docs for the newest version of Ringo. Some instructions in the guides may conflict with directions on this page. Follow the instructions given in the video above and the steps below as they are most up to date.

Visit the Software page of the arduino.cc website. Download and install the correct version of the Arduino coding environment for your operating system.

Download and install the USB driver from the links below. For Windows users, right-click the installer and select "Run as Administrator" when installing.

Download the Ringo Software libraries from the links below. Copy all folders inside the zip to your Documents>Arduino>libraries folder.

Go to the Wink Software page and download the Wink Base Sketch and the Pre-Loaded Behaviors. You can use the Pre-Loaded Behaviors file to re-install the demo code that was installed on your robot when shipping. Use the Base Sketch to begin writing your own code. The Base Sketch is a template that already has the required libraries linked and ready to use.

Configure a few options in the Arduino>Tools menu to prepare the Arduino software to upload code to your robot.

Test the upload.

Visit the Wink Learning to Code page to download the free Wink coding lessons. Follow these lessons to learn to write C code for Wink.

Driver Installation

Before you can load code onto your robots, the FTDI drivers must be installed first. Follow the instructions on this page to download and install the correct driver for your computer and operating system.

It is important that the FTDI drivers be installed on your computer BEFORE connecting the programmer to your computer.

Windows Driver Installation

Mac Driver Installation

Run the installer as administrator. (Right click the installer .exe you downloaded and select "Run as administrator" from the drop down. It should be listed toward the top). If not run as administrator, the installation will likely fail.

Once installation is complete, the Plum Geek programmer may be plugged in. Your computer should now recognize it as a virtual com port and assign it a com port number.

Follow the Mac driver installation guide for your version of Mac OS. You can download the installation guide here: (PDF)

If you have an earlier version of Mac OS (10.3 to 10.8), you can download the earlier version driver here: (Download)

Install Ringo Software Libraries (Use these for Wink)

The software libraries include code you'll add to your Arduino installation. This only needs to be done one time. Arduino will use these library files as necessary automatically after they are installed.

2) Copy the four folders included in this zip file into your Arduino/libraries folder: For the examples to compile, these three important folders must be copied into your libraries folder: Adafruit_NeoPixel, RingoMsTimer2, RingoWire, and FastLED.You'll need to re-start the Arduino software for it to see the new libraries.

The "libraries" folder is located inside the folder where your computer saves Arduino sketches.

Windows Library Location:My Documents\Arduino\libraries

After copying the paths should look like this:My Documents\Arduino\libraries\Adafruit_NeoPixelMy Documents\Arduino\libraries\RingoMsTimer2My Documents\Arduino\libraries\RingoWireMy Documents\Arduino\libraries\FastLED

Mac Library Location:Documents/Arduino/libraries

After copying the paths should look like this:Documents/Arduino/libraries/Adafruit_NeoPixelDocuments/Arduino/libraries/RingoMsTimer2Documents/Arduino/libraries/RingoWireDocuments/Arduino/libraries/FastLED